House-car-door construction



HOUSE CAR DOOR CONSTRUCTION Filed April 28, 1928 Patented Apr.` l, 1930 UNITED STATES Pima:NT oFFlcE EEANK` DITCHEIELD, or cLEvELAND, oHIo, AsslGNon To THE YoUNGsToWN STEEL nooEooMrANY, or CLEVELAND,

.OI-IIC, A CORPORATION OFVVOHIO yHoUsE-oAE-nooa CONSTRUCTION i `.Application filed April 28,

This invention relates to improvements in house car door construction.

In the operation of boX and automobile cars, commonly termed house cars, it is es- Y-l sential that atight weather and spark seal be maintained between thevside. doors and the associated parts of the car wall. Many arrangements for this purposeh'ave heretofore been suggested but, so far as I am aware, all have been characterizedby the fact that the sealedv joint'has been dependent upon two members only, one aflixed 'to the door posts or equivalent member and the other to the door. In such prior arrangements, great difliculty has been experienced in maintaining the lineV of sealing contact, due to unavoidable variations inherent in the fabrication and application ofthe parts,.and, more especially, to injuries to the-sealing elements occurring in, service from the use of sledges, pry bars and other tools forcing the doors open and closed. Y p Y One object of my invention is to provide ya weather and spark sealing construction for slidable doors of house cars which will definitelyk comprise at least two independent lines of sealing contact, one supplementary to the other, to the end that, if failure of sealing contact occurs at any portionin one line of contact,-the other line of'contact opposite. thereto `will act as a safeguard to prevent entrance of moisture or sparks to the interior of the car. j Y v -V Another object ofmy invention is to prof videa door sealing-arrangement whichin-` c ludes three kelements so arranged as to constitute twodistinct lines of sealing contact therebetween, thus compelling -any foreign matter to pass first one and then the other before possibility of gaining admission to the interior ofthe car. Y i

- Other objects of my invention are :'To provide4 a sealing arrangement for' car doors wherein an air pocket or trap associated with a double line of sealing engagement `bef tween the sealing elements; to so construct and apply vthe cooperating sealing elements to the ,door andcar body ,that the ksealing mem;y bre on the door,fparticularly, is'braced and reinforced tol prevent danger of warping,

192s.r serial No. 273,479.

denting or distortion; to so arrange the. sealing elements that they will automatically cooperate to yieldingly pull the door closely against the faces of the door framing members :when the door isy in closedposition to thereby eliminate vibration and rattling; and to otherwise increase the efficiency andlong life of constructions of the character indicated;v f In the drawing forming a part of this specification, Fig. 1 is a side elevational view .of a portion of the side wall of a boX car showing my improvements in connection therewith, parts being broken away topreventcrowding of the drawing. Fig. 2 is a horizontal sec-v tional view corresponding tothe line 2 2 of Fig.y 1, upon an enlarged scale, parts being broken away in this view also, for the same purpose. And Figs. 3 and 4 are detail hori-` zontal sectional views of two otherv sealing arrangements embodying my invention.

Referring first to the construction illustrated inFigs. 1 and 2, the side wallof the boX car is indicated generally by the reference character 10, the usual side door opening thereof being defined by a Z-barfronty door post 11 and a rear Z-b-ar' door post `12, wood vfillers 13-13 being securedthereto in the usual manner.'

The particular type of'door which I have chosen 'for illustration is of the sheet metal type and designated generally by the lreference character A-, Said door preferablyv comprises a plurality; of sheet met-al panels having horizontally extendingv corrugations 14-14 which merge at their ends with vertical edge corrugations 15 and 16.` Each of the vertical corrugations is bridged and reinforced on its innervside by a bridging strip or plate 17, the strip 17 at the forward edge ofthe door preferably being extended around thevfront marginal edge of the'main sheets as indicated at 18, whereby to "give a triple ply fiat marginal edge for'thefront of the door,.the latter being adapted to enter a recess provided'bythe outer fiange 19 of the Z-bar post 1'1 and a flange 20 of an angle'2`fl which issecured to saidpost. The vertical corrugations are also preferably reinforced -byinlaid plates or strips22 riveted thereto as indicated in Fig. 2. vThe door may be hung in any suitable manner, top roller brackets 23 being shown.

Referring to Fig. 2, the door Alias the rear vertical edge thereof reinforced, braced and stiffened by aA buffer angleQ, one-flange 25 of Which lies against the outerface of. the

double-ply marginal edge of the door andY is riveted thereto bythe vertical series of rivets-26. The other flange27' ofthe angle projects inwardly beyond the edge` ofv the door proper and is designed. to receive the blows of the door against the back stops and of the sledges vand pry bars that.. are tref flange or section 31 riveted to the innerface of: the margin fof: the door proper,l the rear edge of said flange 31 preferably abutting the flange 27 ofthe buffer angle soth-at, When'- a 'blow isl appliedV tol the bufferyangle, tlie rivets-26 Which secure boththe stripl28" and angle to the dooigare lplaced under double shear, .thus increasing the strengthA of the connection.Y The sealing strip 28-also has va forwardly and inwardly Y extending free Vvedge flange 32'adapted to'coo'perate with the-'other txvo-elements29- and 30.

The-sealing member 29 is in the'fo'rin of an angle having'oneflange thereof securedto thefweb off the post 12 by a ser-ies of rivets 34;. The other flangef'of said angle29`- is arranged' parallel? tothe door and flush with' the outer flange of the Zlbarf post 12, said flange 35 having itsffree edge proj ecti'ng rear- Wardly, asshoWn inthe drawing.

The third sealing element 30 is'fin the form? i of.` a preferably formed strip of lsomewhat lighter sheet metal than the strip 28, said strip 30 being'alsoof obtuse angle in-'cross sectionv and having a 'securing baseer flange 36 and a rearwardly andoutwardly'- project- 2 ing, free ed eLl'ange 37. TheelenientBOis; inwardly 0- set, With.v respect to theffl'an'ge 35 Vpost :12 'by theA Asamex and.' ist securedto the seriesof rivetsll. i j Y Wlit'hfthe cr'nifstruc'tion'thus1 described', lit will fbe seen 'that' aline ofI vsealing'- Contact is provided *at-38 between-the free-edge ofthe flange' 354 and an inte'rmediatelperfionl o the fiangej32 of thesealingistrip 28. fle-secondl line of sealingzcontactspaced therefrom is fjprovided as indicated atBQlbetWeen the overlapping .free 'edges f of the sealingelements- 30V anda28. In addition, there is aV triangulararir pocketx'lllV formed by thet three*sealing-Telelrnents'as shown. in? Fig. 2; p p

With the':constructiondescribed, it is evi-` such elements.

dent that before any moisture or sparks can enter the car, the same must rst pass the line of sealing contact 39. Should this occur, the foreign matter Will then be Within the airk ypocket 40 and be trapped therein and drained car side andh'enceintoclose contact Wiithrthe: Y

face ofthe-doorsfiorfning elements.. InV actualf practice, it is .very diilicultito eliminate icanrber in elongated niembersvsuch. as areV em'- pl'oyed'inobtaining sealedij'oints for car doorsan'd there areN also necessarily certain variations or tolerances: in the mamifactrlneofv Under Asuch conditions, it is extremely difficult, Whenthe parts areapplied tothe car Wall and door, .to insurey an absolute-1 ly perfect continuous lineof contact', there being: interv-'als Whereztheparts will not forni a truese-al. This-isfurth'er accentuated in service by the Weaving'of' the car;superstructure and. the injuries' that occur: to the' parts inopening' and' closing the door.. Vlfithymyf construction, Where tWo independent `and deiinite' lines of' sealing contact are-provided, the possibility of there being gapsin theI lines of `contact' directly opposite each other i'sextremely remote andshould there bea -gap'in one line of sealing contactathere `isthe prac-Y tical safeguard of the secondary'lineopposite thereto, thus` insuring apractically per-'- fectseal Vunder any ordinary conditions'- of service.

Referring to the construction shown in Fig. 3", the door properislconstructedthe'same asv that ofl thel first described form and4 said door has asimilar buffer angle 124VL and asiini- Y lar sealing strip 1128' secured toits rear edge in the same manner as heretofore described;

Within the corner pocket-formed bythe sec-` tions 350 and is secured theA third sealing element 130, the sari'nebeing preferablyv in; the formera-rolled Aor -ormedf-strpwitn a securing basesectionl; Said-stripis bentso as tozprovide anarrow section libearing-against 1 ing between the flange 135 of the post and the sealing strip 128, and the latter between the sealing strip 130 and sealing strip 128. An

yair pocket is provided as in the first described form.

In the construction of Fig. 4, the rear door post 212 is constructed as in the modification of F ig. 3 and has the outstanding section 250 and outer flange 235. A similar sealing strip 230 is secured to the post, said strip having a rearwardly and outwardly extending flange 237.

The door proper in this form is the same as in the other constructions and has secured thereto a similar buffer angle 224.

The sealing strip 228 applied to the rear edge of the door is somewhat different from the other corresponding strips 28 and 128. Said stripI 228 has the securing baseflange 231, an inwardly and forwardly extending section 232, the latter terminating in a straight edge flange 53 disposed parallel to the door. n

l/Vith this construction, two lines of sealing contact are obtained as before, the same being indicated at 238 and 239. An airpocket 240 is also provided and a supplementary air pocket 54. 1 i

IVith this construction, the co-action of the flange 235 and sealingstrip 228 is the same as in the other constructions.V The action between the straight edge 53 and the flange 237 of the 4third sealing member is, however, somewhat diderent, said flange 53 bearing against the flange 237 and tending to bend the latter outwardly rather than to slide up thereon. l

Should the relation of the three sealing elements be such that, as the door is forced to closed position, the movement is 'not positively limited by engagement of the flange 235 and section 232,'the door will nevertheless be limited in its closing movement by the flange 237 of the third sealingr member being bent down into contact with the flange 235 of the door post. K

Although I have hereinY shown and described what I now considerthe preferred manner of carrying out my invention, the

. same is merely illustrative and I- contemplate all changes and modifications that come within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

1. In a house car door construction, the combination with a fixed wall member; of a door member; and devices providing a double seal between said members, said devices inf cluding: A sealing strip carried by one of said members, and'cooperable means carried by the other of said members, said means having two separate sections each adapted to independently Contact said strip on the same surface. along spaced lines. i

2. In a housecar door construction, the

combination with a fixed wall member; of ay doorv member; and devices providing a double seal between saidmembers, said devicesl including: A sealingstripcarried by the door member, and cooperable means carried by the wall member, said means having Jtwo separate sections each adapted to independentlycon.- tact said strip on the. same surface along spaced lines. f v

3. In -a house car door construction, the

strip overlying the free edges of both of said t flanges when the door is'closed'. f 4. In a house car door construction, the combination with a fixed wall member; of a door member; and devices providing a double seal between said members, said devices including: A sealing strip carried by the doormember, and two independently formed elementseach having a projecting flange car-` ried by 'the wall member, said'flanges being adapted to contact with said strip, said strip overlying the free edges of both of said llanges when the door is closed.

5. In a house car door construction, the combination with a door post having a flange at its outer portion rigid with respect thereto and extending parallel with the car side, said flange projecting rearwardly; a door having a cooperable Vsealing strip secured to the rear edge thereof, said strip having a flange projecting inwardly and forwardly and beyond the free edge ofsaid first named flange, the inner face of the strip ange bef ing engageable with said free edge; and additional means carried by said post engageable with the inner face of said strip fiange near the free edge of the latter.

6.y In a house car door construction, the combination with a door post havingra flange at its outer portion rigid with respect thereto and extending parallel with the ear side, i

said flange projecting rearwardly; a door having a cooperable sealing strip secured to therear edge thereof, said strip having a liange projecting inwardly and forwardly and beyond the free edge of said first named flange; and additional means carried by said post engageable with said strip flange near the free edge of the latter, said means comprising a metal strip with a reawardly and outwardly extending resilient flange.

7. In a house car; door construction, the

combinationwith a sidedoor-post; of anangleV secured thereto and having one of its flanges projecting rearwardly Y and parallel f with the car side; a door. having a sealing strip on its rear edge, the strip having a section` extending forwardly and inwardly; and a second metal seahngrstrip having a flexible flange secured to said post and disposed inwardly of said flange of the angle, said forwardly andl inwardly extendingsection of the door strip being adapted to engage said angle flangeandthe flexible flange of the post strip when the door isin closed position.

8. I n car construction, the combination with a car side provided with a door opening and having a Z-bar post at the rear side'of the opening, said Z-ba'r having the web thereof extending perpendicular outwardly from the car side;y 'of av door adapted to close said' opening; and'weather-sealing means carried by'said post and door including' a metal strip carried by the door having a forwardly and inwardly extending flange, an 'angle secured to the web of saidl Z-bar post and having one flange projecting rearwardly and a sealing strip also secured to the web of said Z-bar post inwardly of said angle and having a flange projecting rearwardly and outwardly,

the door strip flange being engageable with said angle flange and last named sealing strip flange. 4- Y Y In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name this 31st dav ofvMarch, 1928. A y

FRANK DITCHFIELD. 

